Imagine having to read through thousands of essays of applicants. This is something that college admissions officers have to do every year to determine who will be accepted into their school. So as you can imagine, it must get tiring and be a waste of time to end up reading the same essays over and over again!
There are many specific topics that you should know to avoid. Listing your accomplishments, topics about tragedy, “the most important thing/person in my life,” sports, and do-good experiences are all topics that way too many applicants write about and are what admission officers do not want to have to read over and over again (Application Essay Topics to Avoid! by J9ROBINSON). Of course, these are just the negative topics that applicants should not write about; but there are also good topic ideas that future applicants should look into.
Mental virtues would be the “pro’s” of this list. Writing about things like the love of learning, courage, firmness, humility, autonomy or generosity of one’s self are probably the best things an applicant could possibly write about (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). To write a college essay about courage, it would have to be told through an experience or story (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). Firmness, in this context, is meant as a person’s ability to hold on to their beliefs, even if there is an extraneous circumstance that could have affected those beliefs if the person was not able to hold on (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.).
Humility is not only a good topic for a college essay but also an important thing to learn in life. Each individual person is one of many; those who have the strength to realize and admit it are the ones who will be able to continue moving forward in life (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). If the applicant writing a college essay is able to act on his or her own, meaning they are able to make their own choices, then autonomy is a topic they could write about. Independence shows courage and strength as well, and that can tie in multiple topics into one essay (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). Last but not least, generosity; the ability to give without expecting anything in return (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). College admissions officers will be more interested in reading the modest essays.
How to write a good College Essay
Imagine having to read through thousands of essays of applicants. This is something that college admissions officers have to do every year to determine who will be accepted into their school. So as you can imagine, it must get tiring and be a waste of time to end up reading the same essays over and over again!
There are many specific topics that you should know to avoid. Listing your accomplishments, topics about tragedy, “the most important thing/person in my life,” sports, and do-good experiences are all topics that way too many applicants write about and are what admission officers do not want to have to read over and over again (Application Essay Topics to Avoid! by J9ROBINSON). Of course, these are just the negative topics that applicants should not write about; but there are also good topic ideas that future applicants should look into.
Mental virtues would be the “pro’s” of this list. Writing about things like the love of learning, courage, firmness, humility, autonomy or generosity of one’s self are probably the best things an applicant could possibly write about (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). To write a college essay about courage, it would have to be told through an experience or story (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). Firmness, in this context, is meant as a person’s ability to hold on to their beliefs, even if there is an extraneous circumstance that could have affected those beliefs if the person was not able to hold on (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.).
Humility is not only a good topic for a college essay but also an important thing to learn in life. Each individual person is one of many; those who have the strength to realize and admit it are the ones who will be able to continue moving forward in life (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). If the applicant writing a college essay is able to act on his or her own, meaning they are able to make their own choices, then autonomy is a topic they could write about. Independence shows courage and strength as well, and that can tie in multiple topics into one essay (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). Last but not least, generosity; the ability to give without expecting anything in return (Alexis, Shannon. Lecture.). College admissions officers will be more interested in reading the modest essays.